"Now the Great Kaan of Cathay many a time engaged in
war with this king; but the king always vanquished and got the better of
him." Odoric speaks in high terms of the richness and population of Java,
calling it "the second best of all Islands that exist," and describing a
gorgeous palace in terms similar to those in which Polo speaks of the
Palace of Chipangu. (Cathay, p. 87 seqq.)
[We read in the Yuen-shi (Bk. 210), translated by Mr. Groeneveldt, that
"Java is situated beyond the sea and further away than Champa; when one
embarks at Ts'wan-chau and goes southward, he first comes to Champa and
afterwards to this country." It appears that when his envoy Meng-K'i had
been branded on the face, Kublai, in 1292, appointed Shih-pi, a native of
Po-yeh, district Li-chau, Pao-ting fu, Chih-li province, commander of the
expedition to Java, whilst Ike-Mese, a Uighur, and Kau-Hsing, a man from
Ts'ai-chau (Ho-nan), were appointed to assist him. Mr. Groeneveldt has
translated the accounts of these three officers. In the Ming-shi (Bk.
324) we read: "Java is situated at the south-west of Champa. In the time
of the Emperor Kublai of the Yuen Dynasty, Meng-K'i was sent there as an
envoy and had his face cut, on which Kublai sent a large army which
subdued the country and then came back." (l.c. p. 34.) The prince guilty
of this insult was the King of Tumapel "in the eastern part of the island
Java, whose country was called Java par excellence by the Chinese, because
it was in this part of the island they chiefly traded."
(l.c. p. 32.) - H.C.]
The curious figure of a vessel which we give here is taken from the vast
series of mediaeval sculptures which adorns the great Buddhist pyramid in
the centre of Java, known as Boro Bodor, one of the most remarkable
architectural monuments in the world, but the history of which is all in
darkness. The ship, with its outrigger and apparently canvas sails, is not
Chinese, but it undoubtedly pictures vessels which frequented the ports of
Java in the early part of the 14th century,[1] possibly one of those from
Ceylon or Southern India.
[1] 1344 is the date to which a Javanese traditional verse ascribes the
edifice. (Crawford's Desc. Dictionary.)
CHAPTER VII.
WHEREIN THE ISLES OF SONDUR AND CONDUR ARE SPOKEN OF; AND THE KINGDOM OF
LOCAC.
When you leave Chamba[NOTE 1] and sail for 700 miles on a course between
south and south-west, you arrive at two Islands, a greater and a less. The
one is called SONDUR and the other CONDUR.[NOTE 2] As there is nothing
about them worth mentioning, let us go on five hundred miles beyond
Sondur, and then we find another country which is called LOCAC.
